Operation Splash
In 1969, according to Soviet dissident Vasili Mitrokhin, O'Riordan was approached by IRA leaders Cathal Goulding and Seamus Costello with a view to obtaining guns from the Soviet KGB to defend Irish republican areas of Belfast during the communal violence that marked the outbreak of the Troubles. Mitrokhin alleges that O'Riordan then contacted the Kremlin, but the consignment of arms did not reach Ireland until 1972. The operation was known as Operation Splash.
O'Riordan allegedly wrote: "Dear Comrades, I would like to outline in written form a request for assistance in acquiring the following types of arms: 2,000 assault rifles (7.62mm) and 500 rounds of ammunition for each; 150 hand-held machine-guns (9mm) and 1,000 rounds of ammunition for each."
The IRA had split in the meantime between the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA and it was the latter faction who received the Soviet arms. Mitrokhin's allegations were repeated in Boris Yeltsin's autobiography.
Read more about this topic: Michael O'Riordan
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